We got another dog!

It might not be commonly known but spaniels are an addiction, so we are now a 3 dog household! Everyone meet Dottie…

Ok so she won’t be staying forever [Unless she completely steals my heart] as I am fostering her. She’s had a pretty rubbish life but the only way is up from now on! I picked her up this week and she’s already settling into the countryside life. She’ll stay here a couple of weeks, we’ll try and bring her out of her broken shell, have her spayed and just let her blossom into the gorgeous dog she is, until she’s adopted into her forever family.

So what’s her story?

When rescuing a dog you’re rarely given the truth by the original owner, the dog is then like a puzzle,  everything they do you’re slowly piecing together and working out what caused them to do that. One thing is absolutely certain in Dottie’s case; she is a breeding bitch from a puppy farm.

With my job I spend all of my time with dogs who’s owners absolutely adore them, they’re treated like children and are just spoilt with love. You read of puppy farm stories and it’s all very shocking but i’ve actually never experienced it first hand like this and it absolutely breaks my heart. After just minutes in my care I simply could not imagine how anyone could treat any dog like that, and I still just don’t understand how anyone could let it happen.

So far what we’ve worked out is Dottie was kept in a stable/shed with just sawdust and a window or opening to let daylight in. She just sits at home looking up at the windows the way she must have spent the last 4 years. She’s clearly had a LOT of puppies, most likely cockapoos to make her owners a lot of money. She had the runs and was covered in fleas, something a good diet and clean living conditions soon sorted. Having lived in a stable she isn’t toilet trained, so it’s like having a puppy all over again. She’d never been out on a walk so it takes forever to get anywhere because there’s so much going on for her to experience.

Although there is a huge urge to change her name to a ‘W’ to fit the theme, I can’t because I’m doing everything I can to resist the urge to keep her. They said she was called Dottie but her and the other dog picked up at the same time have absolutely no response to their names…or anything else for that matter. No calls, squeaks or rustles get their attention, I just don’t understand how they’ve been treated to be so withdrawn and unresponsive to the world.

The worst thing is, she was given up after she’d finished her job of having lots of puppies, but she’s only 4! A dog from a reputable breeder would have only just started her breeding life so goodness knows how many litters she’s had already to be put up for sale.

Despite her bad start in life she is so unforgiving and just adores all people, dogs and other animals. She’s got the biggest heart and just wants to share all her love. Training any recall or basic obedience will be a slow process as she’s not interested or motivated by any rewards. But for now she’s just learning to be a dog, she’s shadowing my dogs watching everything they do. With any new dog the first thing to teach them is to do nothing, so they just chill out and relax. This is something my dogs definitely help with.

Each day she makes so much progress becoming more confident, taking on the world. We’ll be sharing her journey with you right up until she is adopted.

 

Thanks for reading,

Megan, Woody, Wilma & Dottie.